BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Not picking up everything...

[desert-cheetah]

Okay, so I just got my 436 yesterday and I got it loaded up with my favorites list, but in a side-by-side comparison to an almost identically programmed pro-106, it seems to be missing a lot and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I deleted a bunch of tower sites that are nowhere near my location and that didn't help any. Should I remove all the sites except for the ones identical to my 106? I'm not expecting it to pick up everything identically, but I feel I'm missing a lot on the 436. Any ideas?

 

[UPMan]

Do you have all the relevant service types enabled?

 

[desert-cheetah]

Yes, I do. I've tried messing with the squelch, but I'm not hearing any "squelch-y" noise so I don't know if it's too low or too high. I work on the 3rd floor of a 3 story office building so I never pick up everything perfectly, but I should be getting more than I am.

 

[LIScanner101]

Conventional analog, conventional digital, trunked analog, trunked digital etc?

 

[ofd8001]

Also are hold and delay times set comparably as well as any priority settings?

Lastly there could be a difference in the scan order (see page 51 of the user manual) between the two scanners, which could be a remotely possible explanation of why they are behaving differently.

 

[desert-cheetah]

Conventional analog, conventional digital, trunked analog, trunked digital etc?

I'm not sure what you're asking. I'm picking up more and more and most of it is trunked digital. Ever now and then I get something from state police, which is conventional analog

 

[LIScanner101]

I'm not sure what you're asking. I'm picking up more and more and most of it is trunked digital. Ever now and then I get something from state police, which is conventional analog

Sorry, I was asking which of those four types of transmissions are you missing out on. Is it more on one type than the other?

 

[desert-cheetah]

Also are hold and delay times set comparably as well as any priority settings?

Lastly there could be a difference in the scan order (see page 51 of the user manual) between the two scanners, which could be a remotely possible explanation of why they are behaving differently.

I didn't set any hold or delay times when I was making my favorites list in Sentinel nor did I set anything as priority. I just checked the manual (thank you for referencing that and the page number!!!!) and then my scanner to be sure and priority is off. Scan order is different between the two, yes, and I can see where that would cause the difference in when something is picked up.

Thank you for your efforts in helping me with this. I know the problems I'm having are user-based and not because of the radio itself. So far, I'm really enjoying this thing. When Phoenix PD comes up it tells me what precinct name it is rather than just the number, which I love. The audio is great when it does pick up something. And as I said in the post prior to this one, more and more is starting to trickle in. I'm going to try to start from scratch tonight, though, because I think I may still have more tower sites than I need.

 

[desert-cheetah]

Sorry, I was asking which of those four types of transmissions are you missing out on. Is it more on one type than the other?

Oh, okay. Yes. It's mostly the conventional and analog I'm missing. I'm picking up digital trunked 99% of the time.

 

[RF23]

Oh, okay. Yes. It's mostly the conventional and analog I'm missing. I'm picking up digital trunked 99% of the time.

Others have reported that the setting "Audio Option" in Sentinel has the following effects on scan speeds:

ALL - Slowest
CTCSS/DCS Search (Analog only)
Actually entering a tone code frequency - Fastest

Hope this helps.

 

[desert-cheetah]

The situation has gotten worse. I tried editing my favorites in Sentinel then went to DL the edits to my scanner and my laptop won't recognize it. It powers on. But instead of asking if I want to charge the batteries or use USB mass storage, it loads my original lists and goes right to scanning. I don't know what's going on.

 

[RF23]

The situation has gotten worse. I tried editing my favorites in Sentinel then went to DL the edits to my scanner and my laptop won't recognize it. It powers on. But instead of asking if I want to charge the batteries or use USB mass storage, it loads my original lists and goes right to scanning. I don't know what's going on.

Some have gotten bad USB cables if you have another compatible USB cable you might consider trying it.

Might try to gently wiggle the USB connector at the scanner end and at the computer end to see if either are intermittent in working.

Try to use only USB 2.0 ports on your laptop (if possible) as it has been reported that some USB 3.0 ports are not 100% backward compatible. Also try different ports on your laptop.

Might try rebooting the computer then plugging in the x36 radio to see if it is recognized, if not, then go to "Control Panel" and then Device Manager to check for any red or yellow triangles around your USB Port listing (may be different method to do this in Win 8.0 or 8.1).

Which operating system are you using?

 

[desert-cheetah]

Don't laugh, but I don't know the difference between 2.0 and 3.0 ports. I think my laptop has both, but I wouldn't swear to it. It's an older laptop handed down from my brother and is running Windows XP.

I don't know if the uSB is bad because it worked fine last night. I tried different ports and when I wiggled one of them, I got the "mass usb" but it went away before I could do anything about it. I have also tried rebooting. I haven't tried the control panel route yet and will try that next.

**edited** I finally got the computer to recognize the scanner/usb but pushing the USB tight against the radio itself. Does that sound like it could be a USB issue or is maybe something loose with the radio port? Currently I'm able to hear one of the nearby city PD and a private FD. I'm now picking up county so it looks like it may have finally "taken" I hope so. But do you think the problem could be the USB cord or the port? I couldn't find another USB cord that matched the radio end. I'm also now picking up the Indian reservation where I work, which I never got with this radio until now. I wonder if removing a bunch of tower sites helped with some of the problem....?

 

[RF23]

Don't laugh, but I don't know the difference between 2.0 and 3.0 ports. I think my laptop has both, but I wouldn't swear to it. It's an older laptop handed down from my brother and is running Windows XP.

I don't know if the uSB is bad because it worked fine last night. I tried different ports and when I wiggled one of them, I got the "mass usb" but it went away before I could do anything about it. I have also tried rebooting. I haven't tried the control panel route yet and will try that next.

USB 3.0 ports will have a blue plastic strip as part of the port while the USB 2.0 ports will have a white horizontal plastic strip in the port itself.

Some seem to think that the USB cable was not going in to the USB port of the 36x radio far enough to make good consistent contact. You might try to gently push the USB connector into the x36 radio with a bit more force to see if that is the problem instead of just gently wiggling it. Some have suggested actually shaving some to the plastic off the USB connector that goes in to the X36 radio to help it seat deeper in to the USB port to give a better connection.

Luckily I have not had any such problems but you are not the first to report this kind of problem.

 

[SCPD]

Take a big breath... and a few Moore.................
Unplug the 436 from your laptop and turn everything off.
Restart your Laptop and restart Sentential and See if any of the changes you made are still there.
Either way at this point to not worry if the are not there . It's because you did not save them.
(Before I make any modification to the set up I usually upload it to the Computer and save it with current Date or whatever you like to call it.) then start up the 436 and plug it back into your Laptop.
At this point you should hear a Sound something plunging into you Laptop. If you do then we're good to go. (if not will take it from there. By either you paying me to drive out or Flying me there as I slow in my work and need a break, or ...............)
Anyway take a breath and mow on.

 

[desert-cheetah]

Take a big breath... and a few Moore.................
Unplug the 436 from your laptop and turn everything off.
Restart your Laptop and restart Sentential and See if any of the changes you made are still there.
Either way at this point to not worry if the are not there . It's because you did not save them.
(Before I make any modification to the set up I usually upload it to the Computer and save it with current Date or whatever you like to call it.) then start up the 436 and plug it back into your Laptop.
At this point you should hear a Sound something plunging into you Laptop. If you do then we're good to go. (if not will take it from there. By either you paying me to drive out or Flying me there as I slow in my work and need a break, or ...............)
Anyway take a breath and mow on.

Hahaha. If you're offering to come to Arizona you probably think you need a break and believe coming here would be a good idea. And it would be...if you like hot weather in mid-march. Personally, I'm not fond of 88 degrees this early.

Either way, my breathing is back to normal after breathing a couple of times and gave up for the night. Surprisingly, radio traffic can lessen at night and not hearing anything would not necessarily be indicative of not picking up what's been programmed. At the moment, I can see my favorites being scanned and it's picking up some stuff. I will work on it more this weekend when the county is 'more alive'

 

[desert-cheetah]

I think I got a bad USB. I found one at work and it works better than the one it came with, but still isn't perfect. Oh well. As long as it works.

 

[LIScanner101]

If you don't mind, can you try both USB cables again? This time, can you try wiggling around the part that is connected directly to the scanner, to see if anything happens?

 

[desert-cheetah]

Wiggling doesn't do any good. I wiggled both ends of the USB connection and tried several different ports. Using a USB cord from a card reader, it's more consistent in recognizing the scanner is plugged in and I've now gotten the usb mass storage device question three times so I'm inclined to think it's the cable that came with the radio. And unlike yesterday, I'm starting to pick up more analog transmissions, but not as many as I'm used to. It could be, though, that's it's just a slow day. I don't have my 106 at work with me so I can't compare them to see if I"m still missing transmissions.

 

[troymail]

I've been seeing problems like you are describing since day 1 on my 536. If you're listening to many systems and/or talkgrouups and/or don't have a 2nd radio to compare to, you'll think things are great. However, if you try to listen to specific and limited numbers of systems and/or talkgroups and/or have a 2nd radio to compare reception to, you'll notice alot of activity being missed. I (and others) have been reporting this for weeks and seeing NO response whatsoever regarding it being a known problem and/or if anything is being worked to solve it.

Of course, whenever anything says anything like this others attribute it to "user error" (it's not) and/or "Uniden haters" (I'm not).

My PSR800 stopped on twice as much activity than the 536 finds. Too bad as this radio *could* be really nice.